


Setting up the christmas tree

by eloquent_apollo



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Christmas Fanfic, Dogs, Fluff, Jean has a tiny existential crisis about christmas boxes, M/M, jeremy shouln't be allowed to name dogs, soft boy hours basically, they share one braincell and then it was somehow lost, you'll see why - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21942385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eloquent_apollo/pseuds/eloquent_apollo
Summary: Jean Moreau had never before celebrated Christmas. Back with the Ravens, holidays were seen as a distraction from training. When he lived in France, his family simply didn’t have the money to celebrate Christmas with four children in the house. But now, ever since Jeremy Knox had made its way into Jean’s life, he was learning to do the things he’d never done before. He had sort of celebrated Christmas with the Trojans before, but that had been in dorm rooms with everyone who couldn’t go home to family before. Now, Christmas with the old Trojans is at Jean and Jeremy’s apartment. Apparently, decorating a Christmas tree is a lot of more trouble than Jean could have anticipated for.orthis was supposed to be a story about Jean celebrating Christmas for the first time ever and then it turned into Jean and Jeremy trying to hide puppies from each other.
Relationships: Jeremy Knox/Jean Moreau
Comments: 8
Kudos: 57





	Setting up the christmas tree

**Author's Note:**

> As always a big thanks to my good friend Emma for beta reading!!  
> I wanted to write a little story about Jean's first ever christmas but somehow dogs came into the story and well,,,, I loved them too much okay. Also a big thanks to mrs-renee-reynolds on tumblr for helping me come up with one of the dogs names
> 
> anyway I hope you guys enjoy this

Jean blamed it on the 700 boxes of Christmas decorations that Jeremy for some reason owned. Seriously? How could one person possibly own that much decorations? Jean had stayed with the Trojans for two years after he left the Ravens and although he and Jeremy started dating near the end of his first year, he didn’t actually move in until he had finished his run with the Trojans. What was Jeremy up to the whole year except when Jean visited him in the weekend? A Christmas shopping spree, apparently.

“Do you really-“ 

“Yes!” Jeremy immediately interrupted. They’d been having this discussion since they woke up at 8 to start their decorating. It was currently 1 PM. “Most of it is for outside anyway!” 

“Jeremy, sweetheart, we only have a balcony and we are not putting a giant inflatable snowman on it.” 

Jeremy opened his mouth to protest, but then realised it was an argument he wasn’t going to win and closed his mouth to pout at Jean instead. Damn it. This boy knew how to persuade Jean like no other. 

“I said no.” Jean looks away from Jeremy’s adorable pouty face and continues unpacking the boxes. Over at the small speaker on their dinner table, Mariah Carey starts singing All I Want For Christmas for the 5th time. He used to never understand why people claimed Christmas music could make someone angry, but Jean is this close to getting it. It’s not that the music is necessarily bad, but hearing the same songs on repeat for 5 hours is enough to drive someone to madness. The songs seem to make Jeremy happy, though, so Jean swallows his pride in favour of watching Jeremy dance and sing along. Jean has never met someone as tone deaf as Jeremy Knox, but he makes up for it by looking absolutely adorable while he dances. As Jeremy sings about wanting only one thing for Christmas, he accidentally kicks the box of glass balls and they all go rolling out onto the floor. 

“Careful,” Jean warns, as he picks them all up. Jeremy gets down to help and when they’re all back in their box Jeremy leans over to give Jean a firm kiss.

“I was thinking for colour scheme, we could do red and gold? You know, for the trojans?” 

“Oh god. We have a different colour scheme for decoration every year?” 

Jeremy laughs at Jean’s horrified expression and finally the million of boxes add up. He’s going to have to do this every year. Every year he has to pick a different set of two colours to decorate the tree with. Every year he’ll be woken up on the first day of December at 8 to decorate his apartment. Maybe one day it’ll be a big house they have to decorate. Suddenly Jean’s heart is beating in his throat, as he is overcome with sudden emotions. These were all things Jean never thought he would have, but now he does. Jean has a Christmas to look out to next year again. A Christmas not spend horrified and in pain, but instead with friends and with Jeremy. Maybe next year they’ll finally have a dog like Jeremy had been begging Jean to let them have for months. Jeremy has stopped laughing when he noticed the shift in Jean’s expression and carefully places his hand on Jean’s lower back. It helps calm Jean, but right now he doesn’t want to decorate anymore.

“Mind if we continue in a bit?” 

Jeremy nods, probably thinking Jean is upset. Jean can see the surprise on Jeremy’s face as he instead leads Jeremy to their bedroom, where he gently pulls him onto their bed and spends quite some time just making out and cuddling with him. Jean never thought he could have this, but God does it feel good to finally have it. He doesn’t want to let go of Jeremy, so he kisses him until Jeremy is completely distracted from the boxes in their living room. He wants his full attention. He wants Jeremy to understand how much he loves him. How much he has done for Jean and how he could never find a way to repay him. As Jeremy wraps his arms tightly around Jean’s waist, Jean knows that Jeremy understands.

-

“The boxes!” Jeremy shoots up suddenly, pulling the blanket off and exposing Jean’s body to the cold of their bedroom. They forgot to turn up the heat apparently, and Jean just finally dozed off with Jeremy.

“Forget the boxes. Come back here,” Jean groans.

“Babe, we have to decorate!” Jeremy whines.

Jean wants to argue, that no they do not have to decorate at all, when Jean suddenly remembers something. Once during his first year with the Trojans, they’d had their Christmas celebration in Alvarez and Laila’s dorm. He remembered Jeremy making a comment about how decorating the tree was his favourite tradition from his family. Him and his 4 siblings would get together and just put whatever they thought was pretty in the tree, resulting in an often chaotic and messy Christmas tree, but their parents proudly displayed it and showed off the kids works to friends and family that came to visit. Jeremy wasn’t going home to his family this year, because he wanted to celebrate with friends, but that didn’t mean Jeremy wasn’t still homesick for his parents and siblings and their yearly traditions. Decorating the house would ease some of his homesickness, but he wasn’t ready to admit that out loud yet. 

“Okay, but first, onesies,” Jean says. Jeremy turns to face him, shock evident on his face, before it’s replaced with the widest smile Jean has ever seen. The onesies were Alvarez’s idea and although Jean had claimed to hate them, the damn things grew on him eventually. Jean gets out of bed and grabs the two onesies out of their closet, and tosses one to Jeremy. Jean’s got a brown bear onesie, with stupid ears on the top that Jeremy can’t seem to get enough off. He pulls the hood up now as well, because Jean is smitten like crazy and he’ll do anything to make Jeremy smile. It’s addicting, really. 

Jeremy has a cat onesie, which is very fitting. Jeremy stretches out on the couch like a damn cat lazing in the sun. Sometimes Jean came to the apartment in the summer to find Jeremy laying in the middle of the floor because that’s where the sun was. It helps that one wall of their apartment is literally just windows and that they’re high enough to catch a lot of sun every day. Jean considered buying a big fluffy rug for the apartment, but decided to hold off on it for now. He’s saving up for Jeremy’s big present now.  
After they put their onesies on, Jeremy and Jean go back to decorating. Jeremy also owns countless of Christmas houses to make a little town on the dinner table that neither of them ever used for dinner anyway. Jeremy tasks Jean with setting up the Christmas village, which Jean ended up actually really liking. There was something calming about building an entire village like that. It takes them till almost 9, but eventually they finish their Christmas decorating. To Jean it looks like a store selling Christmas decorations vomited their catalogue over the living room, but Jeremy seemed so happy he could hardly complain. 

They ended up ordering pizza for themselves, since it was easier than just cooking dinner. Jean severely doubted they had any food in their fridge anyway. They were supposed to do groceries today, but Jean will do it tomorrow instead. Jeremy insist that they should watch a Christmas movie for dinner, so they cuddle up on the couch with their pizzas to watch Klaus. When the movie ends, Jean can tell Jeremy is crying softly into Jean’s shoulder. Jean smiles softly, something he’s gotten better at after two years with the Trojans, and brushes his hand through Jeremy’s blonde curls. Jeremy needs a re-dye but it’ll have to wait. Jeremy quietly mutters about the ending to Jean, and Jean hums occasionally to indicate that he’s listening. Eventually, Jeremy dozes off in Jean’s arms. Jean checks his phone for news about the big present for Jeremy, but he only has a text from Alvarez. It doesn’t seem important, it’s probably about the party they are having for Christmas, so Jean closes his phone and pulls a blanket over him and Jeremy before dozing off himself.

-

Jean had agreed to meet up with Laila for coffee every other week. At first it had been to make sure their friendship didn’t fade, but as the months passed the coffee dates weren’t to keep their friendship lasting anymore, they were just for the good fun of it. Jeremy really enjoyed spending time with Laila, finding her the more level headed person in his weird group of friends. They often came together now to discuss what was going on in their lives. Laila had made it to the pros just like Jean and Jeremy had, but Laila was on a different team as Jean so they didn’t get to spend much time together like back in their college days. Alvarez was still in college, but Laila had an apartment close to USC so Alvarez spent most of her time staying with Laila. Laila was just in the middle of a story, when Jean’s phone pinged to alert him of a message. 

“Excuse me, I have to check this,” He said. Laila hums as Jean checks the message he just got. It’s from the person selling their Samoyed puppy, saying Jean should be able to pick the little boy up tomorrow.

“Is it the puppy?” Laila asks, after Jean finished writing a reply and put his phone away again. Laila was the one who told Jean that Jeremy really wanted a dog, but that he was worried Jean wouldn’t like it. It made sense that she was also the one that helped Jean find a puppy for Christmas. 

Truth be told, Jean wasn’t a big fan of dogs. He doesn’t hate them, because how could you ever hate an animal? He just doesn’t really like them, that’s all. He doesn’t know where the initial dislike came from. He has a vague theory that he may have been bitten as a child and that’s why he disliked them, but he has no way of confirming it. Still, Jeremy had always adored dogs and had three big Saint Bernards at home. When Jean first visited, he almost got trampled by them. He didn’t like the dogs at first. They were big, and always tried to jump on Jean for treats that Jean didn’t have or wanted to offer. Then, somehow, his attitude changed, while the dogs their behaviour didn’t. He had told Jeremy about his dislike, to which Jeremy had said that he should at least try to enjoy the dogs. Jeremy would walk them every morning and of course Jean had to come with. It was worth it, really, seeing Jeremy so happy in the snow with his three massive dogs. In the end it didn’t matter what changed his opinion on dogs, the only thing that mattered was that it changed. Jeremy was delighted, but apparently afraid to push his luck. That was fine though, because now it all made for a great surprise.

“Yes. I can pick him up tomorrow. You’ll come, right?” 

Laila nods and Jean feels grateful. He hopes everything goes well, because he wants to make Jeremy happy this Christmas.

-

Maybe Jean should have thought this puppy plan through a little bit more after the whole getting one part. Getting the puppy proved to be easy, but it was the hiding him till Christmas part that was tricky. He couldn’t leave the puppy with Laila, since she had an allergy for dogs much to her dismay. He had no one else to leave it with, because his only other friends were Alvarez and Renee. Aside from the fact that Alvarez lived with Laila half of the time and the other half was spend in a dorm room at USC, she was also terrible at keeping secrets. Renee lived states away, so she wasn’t an option either. This meant Jean had to hide the puppy from Jeremy in their own apartment. Luckily for Jean, Christmas was only 4 days away. If the puppy could just quietly hide in their guestroom till then, Jeremy would never know. The amount of time they lost things in the guestroom made Jean confident enough that he could hide the little puppy there for the time being. If he just fed him in time and played with him enough, he would probably stay mostly quiet. The only thing he needed was a reason to justify his long stays in the guestroom. Maybe he could convince Jeremy he was watching exy reruns or something?

-

Jeremy Knox has often been describes as impulsive, but nothing he has ever done before will take the cake like what he has done today. Jeremy Knox has bought a puppy, without talking it through with his boyfriend. One could write it off as a Christmas present for the other, except the puppy was really more for Jeremy than it was for Jean. Okay, maybe that was kind off mean but he knew Jean didn’t hate dogs. He just didn’t like them that much. He was hoping this puppy could change Jean’s mind though. It was a Saint Bernard, just like the three dogs he’d had back home that Jean did end up liking. He had already gotten him a collar with a dog tag with his name on it, that’s how confident he felt that he could pull this off. He had named him Slinky, much to Alvarez’s amusement.

“Even if you get Jean to agree on keeping the dog, he’ll never agree on naming him Slinky,” She said, as she carried Slinky to the car. Slinky happily barked when she said his name and then tried to lick her face.

“Tough luck because he’s already responding to it! Aren’t you, Slinky? You’re our little Slinky boy!” Jeremy smiled as Slinky barked in response to him. 

Alvarez sat in the back with Slinky on her lap and took out her phone. 

“Can I show Laila?” 

“Sure! Just make sure she doesn’t tell Jean, okay?” 

Alvarez hums in response and snaps a picture of Slinky. The drive back home is relatively quiet, until Alvarez suddenly begins to laugh.

“What?” 

“Oh no, it’s just something Laila said. You wouldn’t get it.” 

“Okay?”

Jeremy knew better than to ask, but something in Alvarez’s voice betrayed that this was definitely about him and the dog.

-

When Jeremy came home he was lucky enough to have the apartment all to himself. He was going to hide Slinky in the spare room until Christmas time. Jean and Jeremy rarely ever used it and had lost things in there so many times that Jeremy was confident enough that Jean would never find Slinky until Christmas came around. He thanked Alvarez for the help and after she left he spend some time playing with Slinky until Jean came home.

-

Jean was sitting in the living room with Jeremy two days before Christmas. So far things had been going great. Jeremy hadn’t been any wiser about the puppy in the spare room. The exy rerun excuse had worked and had kept Jeremy from bothering Jean while he was in there. The more time he spent with the puppy, the more he began to enjoy having one around the house. The little guy was calm most of the time while Jean was in there, but he did sometimes bark when he walked in. Luckily for Jean, Jeremy didn’t seem to notice. They were currently together on the couch, with Jean using Jeremy’s chest as a pillow while he read a book. Jeremy was watching YouTube videos, but the sound didn’t bother Jean one bit. He had gotten used to it over the years. He was getting more and more excited for the Christmas party and the fact the puppy was still hidden only added to it. He couldn’t wait to see Jeremy’s face when he woke him up with a puppy on Christmas morning. 

BARK!

Ah fuck. Jean should have known he couldn’t pull this off. He was trying to think of an excuse, when he realised that Jeremy didn’t ask. Odd? Maybe he hadn’t heard? No, it was way too loud. Maybe he thought it came from the neighbours? Okay cool, just ignore it. Jeremy is still none the wiser.

BARK BARK

“Were those—” Jeremy started

“Two barks?” Jean finished.

“Oh my god,” Jeremy began to laugh. Jean frowned and got up, making his way over to the guest room while Jeremy followed behind him. This can’t be happening. Dear god this can’t be true.

But it is true. As Jean opens the door, two puppies dart out of the room. One he recognises, the other he doesn’t. 

“Did you get a puppy?” Jean and Jeremy ask in unison.

“Clearly, yeah. It was an impulsive decision that I hoped I could write off as a Christmas gift...” Jeremy admitted with a chuckle.

“I- I got the puppy as a gift for you,” Jean sighs. 

“Awh! That’s so cute!” Jeremy walks over to the two playing puppies and picks up the one he’s bought. “His name is Slinky and he’s a saint Bernard!” 

Jean had regrets already. Still though, Jeremy looked so happy as he picked up the other puppy. Okay, maybe he wasn’t going to regret this as much as he thought he would. Jeremy looked so happy, how could he be upset about this? If he trained them, the dogs wouldn’t be too much trouble. 

“We shall name this one Deputy Skateboard,” Jeremy said happily

Okay, maybe he did regret not taking Jeremy’s questionable naming choices into consideration. Whatever. Jeremy was happy, that was all that mattered.

“Guess I’ll have to find you something else for Christmas, considering the surprise is ruined,” Jeremy smiled.

“It’s not a major loss,” Jean shrugs as he moves to pull Jeremy into a kiss. He runs his fingers gently through Jeremy’s hair, while putting the other on his waist to pull him close. The kiss is short, because Slinky attempts to join in by licking at Jeremy’s face which makes him burst into laughter. You know, for a first Christmas this really wasn’t so bad, Jean thinks as a small smile finds it’s way to his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this maybe leave a kudo or a comment! Or come say hi to me on my [ tumblr](https://eloquent-apollo.tumblr.com)


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